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Numbers 26 - 35 Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Father, it's in moments like this.
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  Where we need your strength. An extra measure of your grace
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  Lord, we lean into you. And we ask that you by the
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  spirit which speak strengthen Lord, those who may be sick,
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  those who may be distracted. Those may be weary and
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  discouraged or we just ask father that you would be in the
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  midst. And that you would take these
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  words from these chapters and soothe our souls Lord.
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  Let us not leave this place on this final Bible.
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  Study of 2018 unchanged. But Lord, you This study to
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  postures for this next year to thank you for what you've done
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  in the past and to be expected for what you have in the future
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  Lord Almighty. Would you show Yourself Strong
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  tonight? How we desperately need you to
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  speak? Lord, we don't want this to just
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  be another Bible study. We want this to be a touch from
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  heaven. Give it to us.
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  Lord, we pray, let Satan and his schemes tonight.
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  Fail miserably in light of your goodness.
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  Lord, in your power in Jesus name we pray.
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  Amen. Then last week, we came to a
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  pivotal moment in the Book of Numbers pivotal moment because
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  we have reached the transition of the first generation that
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  received God's judgment to be completely obliterated and to
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  die in the wilderness to the second generation, the new
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  generation that was given the promise to go into the promised
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  land. That was given that privilege
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  and honor. And so where we touched on last
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  as we discussed the senses. Second census in the book of
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  numbers and the purpose of that census was to number the people
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  in order to know how to give out the land and appropriate
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  fashion, it was to dictate what pieces of land would be given to
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  what tribes. But not only that.
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  It was also done so that they would know which people 20 and
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  up, the men would be able to go to war.
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  Why? Because in numbers 25, we see we
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  can't even look there real quickly.
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  There was Baal worship caused by the midianites.
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  And so God. Wanting to take Vengeance on the
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  midianites, ask the people of Israel to get their army ready
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  and they do. So they go to war.
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  But before that, Joshua is ordained as the successor of
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  Moses and following that our laws to remind people.
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  Oh, you see the reputation in the Old Testament, especially,
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  you see, why is there so much repetition?
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  And it's, because we need it, we need it.
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  You see that from 28 to 30 repetition of various laws,
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  which we won't touch on and then 31.
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  We finally see Israel going to war with Midian and God
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  satisfying, his just wrath against those who have
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  instigated and tempted his people to fall into sexual
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  immorality. And this is that chapter in 31,
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  where Balaam finds himself to be caught in that judgment because
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  he was the one who whispered that suggestion. and so, as the
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  readers reading, The holy spirit is writing this.
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  The author is writing is inspired by the spirit and the
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  reader is anticipating something after chapter 31.
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  What's the reader anticipating all?
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  Here we go. Were finally coming into the
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  promised land. It's been thirty eight long
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  years and now all we can smell the milk and honey.
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  Or do we? Something happens in chapter 32
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  and again, I praise the Lord. Jesus Christ that through 32 and
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  33 especially Is it such a relevant text?
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  Especially as we are on the border of the new year.
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  Let's read verse 1 from 32 down. Now, the people of Reuben and
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  the people of God had a very great number of livestock, and
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  they saw remember that word. They saw the land of jazz are in
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  the land of Gilead and behold the place was a place for
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  livestock. So the people of God and the
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  people of Reuben came and said to Moses and Eleazar the priest
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  and to the chiefs of the congregation begins to list
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  these names and verse 4 says the land that the Lord struck down.
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  Before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock
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  and your servants have livestock and they said, if we have found
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  favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants
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  for a possession. Do not take us across the
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  Jordan. Is that sound good?
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  Boost? Who thinks this is a good idea.
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  Who thinks this is a very bad idea.
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  Yes, it's a very bad idea. Why is this a bad idea?
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  Isaac precisely. So we have to understand where
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  we're at right now. Geographically.
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  And I wish we had a picture for but we don't have time for that
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  right now. If you look at the map you see
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  that they are on pretty much the border of the land of Canaan.
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  So we know the Jordan River is right there.
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  They are right there and they're just moments away of Crossing
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  into the promised land. But they look around, you know,
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  they see and they go, hey, this is, this is kind of good.
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  This is neat. This is there's a lot of room
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  here. You know what, let's try to
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  convince Moses. To park here and I go over
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  there. And it all stems down to this
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  one unfortunate reality. The human nature.
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  They saw. You know how much troubles your
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  eyes and my eyes give us? They saw that, it was plentiful,
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  they saw that it was good and they failed to trust that what
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  was beyond that River was better than what they could see with
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  their eyes. How do you think Moses reacted
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  to this? Let's find out in verse 6.
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  But Moses said to the people of God, and to the people of
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  Reuben, shall your brother's go to the war while you sit here.
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  Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel
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  from going over into the land that the Lord has given them,
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  your father's did this. When I sent them from Kadesh
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  barnea to see the land, for when they went up to the valley of
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  eshkol and saw the land, they discourage the heart of the
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  people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given
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  them not a favorable response. In fact, it's not just the
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  reaction, it's a rebuke. What's going on here in essence?
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  You know what's happening to Moses right now flashback?
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  Flashback. He's like I've been here before
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  I've seen this before and it doesn't take much room.
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  And you can almost sympathize with the man from the
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  immediately, going to rebuke mode, because he realizes that
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  something is about to happen that can almost as you're about
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  to find out. Press the reset button on the
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  whole Wilderness Journey. Again, this is a very scary
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  suggestion by these tribes and Moses comes to them and says
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  listen, Yes, I'm a question. Are you seriously gonna let
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  these other tribes your brother's go to war while you
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  sit here? And Moses main concern is that
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  you're going to discourage them by this decision.
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  And you can learn so much on a practical level for Moses
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  response here. And I want to pull out three
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  main things. Number one, one of the greatest
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  hindrances to the people of God, moving forward into God's will
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  is discouragement. Discouragement.
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  Now if encouragement is one of the greatest methods and means
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  by, which God has instituted his people to be propelled into
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  moving forward, you can guarantee that discouragement
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  has the same effect, but in the opposite direction, what is
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  discouragement do? It is an emotion that drain
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  somebody from Confidence. From Hope, from faith.
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  discouragement to the soul is, What it is like in the physical
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  was somebody literally get sucker punch in the stomach and
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  loses their wind. It's like that to the soul.
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  It literally. Extinguishes any sense of
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  Desire, almost all desire to take another step into what God
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  has called them to do. And listen, discouragement can
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  be experienced in many ways, especially in a spiritual way.
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  Because there are spiritual Pursuits that God has called us
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  to and we can be encouraged to move forward in those Pursuits
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  or we can be discouraged and paralyzed due to something
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  called discouragement. Now here's a question that we
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  can all just be vulnerable as the family of God.
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  What are some ways in the spiritual?
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  Can we be discouraged from advancing?
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  Spiritually is anybody know. Any ideas?
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  Not seeing immediate fruit. That's a huge one.
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  Why do I keep investing in this ministry?
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  When I don't see Souls getting saved?
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  Why do I keep doing this? When nobody else is being fired
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  up for this ministry? Absolutely.
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  That's one of the greatest ones anything else.
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  Sometimes your spiritual walk is it won't.
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  Yeah. And that's the main one.
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  We're going to get to the next point.
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  So there's people and that's the main one, but there's other
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  things too. Not trusting.
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  God shirt, failing, maybe ants. Lack of answer to prayer.
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  I've been I've been pleading with God.
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  I've been interceding and I'm not seeing anything.
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  Yes. So many things can discourage
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  the people of God. And it's sing a simple language
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  though. There are many ways that
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  somebody can be discouraged, it all boils down to this one.
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  Reoccurring thought? No matter where the
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  discouragement is coming from whether circumstance or
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  whatever. I don't want to do this anymore.
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  I'm tired. I'm exhausted.
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  I rather give my energy to something else.
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  And listen discouragement can do so many things to somebody, it
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  can make somebody bitter. It can make somebody extremely
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  frustrated. Like the Israelites
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  discouragement the first time from going to the promised land.
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  You know what it made them do, it made them want to actually go
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  back. Like what is this whole thing
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  about? Let me just go back to what I
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  was doing before. Instead of doing this, it can
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  paralyze. You, you know what?
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  I can get so scary and Ministries that you can get so
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  discouraged that you just begin to go with the motions.
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  And you're not believe in God anymore, for something new.
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  You're not believing God to touch his people.
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  You're not believing God for the things that you've been
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  believing for when you first started and it just like, let's
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  just do this thing and just go and see what happens.
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  And you just lose Zeal and passion happens to so many
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  people. pray for the spiritual leaders that, you know, as I
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  said earlier, it can even cause somebody to just say, let me
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  just Let me just go back to what I first took in the first place
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  for this whole thing. Discouragement number two, In
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  this text shows me that it is the strongest when it comes from
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  within listen, discouragement from outside.
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  The household of God is something to be expected.
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  It's called persecution it when the family that there's no God,
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  when your friends, I don't know, God, your boss doesn't know,
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  God, when they come In different ways to discourage your
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  spiritual Pursuit and advancement.
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  That is to be expected. But this is also, what is to be
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  expected that in light of all of that craziness happening?
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  We should be able to come to the Refuge in the house of God to
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  find encouragement. Now, listen, that's not always
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  true, unfortunately, because sometimes people experience
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  discouragement from outside and they come inside and all they
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  find is more discouragement. That's a whole different level
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  of waiting anise. That's a whole different
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  challenge in itself because when you and I come together like
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  what we're doing now, you know what, we should feel every time
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  we come into this place, no matter what, you're going
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  through at least some surge of Hope and Faith to say, you know
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  what, serving Jesus is worth it. Serving with my brothers and
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  sisters is worth it. Worshipping him is worth it.
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  You reminded in the place of God that.
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  Yes, I know. Why did this in the first place?
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  And my prayer. I just studying this this week,
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  my prayer saying Lord, I pray that this house would never be,
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  never fail to be a source of life for the people of God
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  because we are all susceptible to feeling discouraged.
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  From everything outside. It should not come from within
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  listen. Let's just let's just pause here
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  and I've been going through the book of Acts and I've been
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  seeing something and it may be a simple thing but I just I fell
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  in love with the book of Acts in this one little detail and we
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  need to just look at it together.
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  Just turn to the book of Acts beginning in verse 14, I want to
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  I want to see something very simple but very beautiful,
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  concerning the life and the breadth of the early church.
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  Look at Acts 14:22. Acts 14:22, strengthening The
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  Souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in
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  the faith and saying that through many tribulations.
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  We must enter the kingdom of God here.
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  I just want to let you know today.
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  People of God we're going to go through many tribulations be
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  reminded as hopeful as 2019 is going to be.
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  There's going to be some things that might knock the wind out of
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  us. But behold he is with us.
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  And he will strengthen us go to acts 15:32 the next chapter.
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  And Judas and Silas who were themselves prophets encouraged
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  and strengthened the brothers. With many words, depending on
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  your translation, you might get eggs sorted.
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  Encourage. And strengthen the brothers,
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  with many words, their words, encourage the people of God, go
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  to the next chapter, ax, 1640 So they went out of the prison and
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  visited Lydia. And when they had seen the
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  brothers, they encourage them and departed.
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  Go to acts 1827. You guys see this axe 1827?
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  And when wish to Across the K of the brothers encourage them and
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  wrote to the disciples to welcome him, when he arrived, he
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  greatly help. Those who through Grace had
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  believed, go to acts, 21 and 22. After the Uproar ceased, its
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  after a riot. Paul sent for the disciples and
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  after encouraging them, he said, farewell and departed.
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  The Macedonia, when he had gone through those regions and given
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  them much and encouragement, he came to Greece people of God, we
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  need to know how to encourage one another.
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  This was literally encouragement, was pumping
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  through the veins of the church in the book of Acts.
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  It's what kept Him going. It was fresh breath every time
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  and how is it done? My words, your presence, my
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  presence. When we come together, I can't
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  tell you how many times I'm encouraged when I come on a
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  Wednesday night. Or Friday, or Sunday.
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  And I just see the people of God and I know that they're here for
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  God. Instant life comes to my soul, I
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  hope it does for you. I hope it does for you now, it's
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  not General encouragement, the world knows how to encourage
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  people in a general sense, we're talking about encouragement.
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  In the things of God, talking about being encouraged to
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  continue to zealously, pursue the Lord and serve the Lord,
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  that kind of encouragement. A Divine encouragement, a holy
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  spirit-inspired encouragement, Going back to number 32.
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  If there's a third lesson in this amongst many, there's this
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  that I see here that there are two ways that We can be a source
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  of discouragement to one another.
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  Now remember he's reminding them of their fathers.
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  He's saying, hey, I've seen this before and it's not going to end
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  up good. If you do this, you're going to
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  discourage the people, the rest of the tribes from moving in,
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  just like the spies did with the whole nation.
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  But what's interesting is, when you compare this to numbers 13
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  though, discouragement was the final result.
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  The means of discouragement was different.
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  How did the people get discouraged from the spies in
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  numbers 13? What happened?
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  You're right. So it was a direct verbal
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  assault to their faith. It was them coming and saying we
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  can't do this. This is impossible.
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  And it worked, they lost heart. They said These Giants are too
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  big. It's just, it's just not going
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  to work. The walls are too great.
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  It's not going to happen. And actually unfortunately
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  worked but then here we see a different means of
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  discouragement. We don't see a direct verbal.
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  Disheartening statement being made, what do we see?
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  What are we seeing this in this sea of stronger, you're trying
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  to send some isolated bingo. In this case, it's passivity.
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  In this case, what you have is two tribes that are so content
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  with their current state, that their contentment and their lack
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  of Desire of wanting to go further in the will of God was
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  actually contagious to the others who wanted to move
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  forward to actually say, you know what, maybe this is better.
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  Oh man. That's scary.
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  So I can, I can discourage people in my own words, right?
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  I can discourage my fellow brothers and Ministry by saying,
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  oh, this isn't worth it, all God's, not going to do that all.
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  That's just too much. I'll be realistic.
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  That can happen. But I believe this version, this
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  means of discouragement. It's more prevalent and more
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  real than we actually think it's a greater threat.
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  What is it is that when you have people within a people group who
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  don't want to grow in God, and that kind of mindset and posture
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  can actually, in fact, The rest of the people of God from moving
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  forward, in the things of God. Although it's so real.
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  It's scary. And you don't have to be here on
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  the pulpit to be that kind of a person.
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  Reuben, Gad I thought to themselves that their decision
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  wouldn't affect others. It's completely selfish here.
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  Right there are saying we want this land.
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  They're not thinking about the Battle, they're not thinking
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  about the war, they're not even thinking about the glory of God.
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  All they're thinking about is we have all this cattle.
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  We have all this stuff and we want to be able to be sustained.
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  And taking care of, this is about my well, being a Moses as
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  a good leader, does remind them. Hey, this is not just about you.
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  This is bigger than you. And we might hear this and say
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  well it's not a big deal if I don't do my part in serving the
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  lord it's not a big deal. If my spiritual state is not
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  intact the way it should be, according to the word of God.
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  You're right. It's not a big deal.
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  If you're not a part of a local body, If you are a part of a
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  local body, it is a big deal. Let's give an illustration here.
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  That's like saying, Look at your own body and let's say you're
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  right hand stops working all for a sudden it becomes lifeless.
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  And every other part of your body is working just fine and
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  you can be thankful that everything else is working for.
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  I can speak. I can see, I can move but your
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  right hand is that and you have the ability to bring it back to
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  life but you choose not to That's like saying in the
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  spiritual, it's not important if I'm not active and I'm a part of
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  my it's like saying with your physical body, doesn't matter of
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  my right hands, not working, would you say that with your own
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  body? Would you say that if your ear
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  stop hearing, would you say that's fine?
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  Everything else is, it doesn't effect the rest.
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  Everything else is working. Just fine.
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  We have another year, we have another hand.
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  Nobody would dare to say that if they had the opportunity to
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  actually bring about some restitution and some Revival to
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  those nerve endings and to those muscles.
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  And if you are a part of a body, guess what?
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  No matter what you're automatically, a member of a
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  body. So, you know what you are,
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  you're something that offers some operational benefits.
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  The rest of the body and we can as a body be thankful that we
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  have everything else functioning but you know, it's much better.
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  If everything is functioning, it's much better of all my
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  fingers are working, it's much better.
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  If all my nerves are in tight, it's much better instead of
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  trying to justify. And so this is the reality here
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  is that if you are plugged in You have a contribution to make.
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  And your spiritual Vitality, your spiritual discipline your
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  spiritual love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Has a consequence of how the rest of the body functions.
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  We might not like that but it's true.
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  Nonetheless. And so this is a question we can
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  ask yourself. Am I a body part that's
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  functioning? Well, Or am I lifeless?
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  And there's some body parts. Actually bring disease.
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  That's a whole nother thing, but just talking about life, this
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  talk about something, that's not moving, something that's not
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  functioning. The experience of the body could
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  be different if everything was alive.
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  Why are Reuben and Gad wrong in this request?
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  What does it reveal about their hard work by asking Moses for
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  this? Anybody have an idea.
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  Why I mentioned it earlier but there's two things being said,
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  here by them requesting to Moses.
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  We want to stay on this side of the river because of what they
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  saw because of what they perceive because of what they
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  calculated in their own natural understanding.
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  What they were saying in directly to God was, I don't
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  believe that what you have to offer across this river is
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  better. I don't believe that what you
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  have for me on this other side of the river will actually
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  provide for my flock and my hair is my family.
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  God your plan seems nice but it seems like it's a little tight
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  in there. And right now right here this
• 22:56
  seems just fine. So I'm going to stay somewhat
• 22:59
  connected to you but I'm not going to go full on in and it's
• 23:04
  a very powerful image in a physical sense of a spiritual
• 23:08
  parallel reality. This is where the wrong.
• 23:12
  Yes. It's a declaration of unbelief
• 23:15
  but it is motivated by a sense of contentment again and a
• 23:18
  selfishness. I, I'm more concerned about my
• 23:25
  stuff and my family more than the glory of God and the
• 23:28
  well-being of my brothers. That's what they're saying here.
• 23:31
  That's why Moses was so angry. That's why Moses was so ignited
• 23:34
  with passion when he responded. And we should not dare to fail,
• 23:43
  to think that their temptation is not a Temptation that we can
• 23:46
  experience. Listen guys, the promised land
• 23:50
  was God's will for the people of God to go in there.
• 23:54
  To experience. Those blessings was God's desire
• 23:57
  to pull them into. And what they're saying here is,
• 24:00
  I don't want to be in the center of God's will.
• 24:03
  I want to be right on the fringes.
• 24:06
  You how many people are like that and what was their
• 24:08
  motivation is materialism? What they are Desiring is not
• 24:11
  inherently evil, they're not like Lord.
• 24:13
  We love the midianites woman and we want to hang around the
• 24:16
  these. No, they're not saying That's
• 24:18
  directly sinful. It's not a wrong thing to care
• 24:21
  for your flock and to care for your stuff.
• 24:24
  When it Trump's over the will of God and God's desire for your
• 24:27
  life, it is an idol and this is where they've come to they said
• 24:31
  we want to be somewhat connected and we're going to find that out
• 24:33
  of the moment. We want to be somewhat connected
• 24:35
  but we don't want to be in that. We don't want to live in the
• 24:37
  center of your will Lord. We don't want to pitch our tents
• 24:41
  in the promised land. We want to just see it from afar
• 24:44
  be neighbors with it. Maybe visit sometimes but not
• 24:49
  live in it. So many people like that today.
• 24:54
  So many people like that today. That have put these things that
• 24:59
  God cares about God will provide for so high up that they are
• 25:03
  literally forfeiting milk and honey.
• 25:07
  Is what they see in the Now is better than what God has for
• 25:11
  them just moments away. The here's a question in this
• 25:17
  Bible study, are you Desiring to live in the center of God's
• 25:20
  will? Or are you satisfied to live on
• 25:22
  the fringes? Because Reuben Gad were
• 25:28
  satisfied. You can see where their mindset,
• 25:31
  as you can see, where their Ambitions are.
• 25:35
  They're not, they're not thinking like how God wanted
• 25:37
  them to think they're not thinking, oh we're going to see
• 25:39
  God's glory manifested. Yeah, it's going to get bloody
• 25:42
  in there but oh what an exciting thing, it's going to be to go to
• 25:46
  war with our brothers to see God, give us what he promises.
• 25:50
  What are we going to know when we plant the Tabernacle?
• 25:54
  What are we going to? Censor the presence of God?
• 25:56
  What we have for the know? Nothing about the glory of God?
• 25:59
  Nothing about the testimonies that God wants to give them
• 26:03
  nothing about any of that. My house.
• 26:07
  And my sheep my family. Like really.
• 26:17
  And we asked ourselves the same question.
• 26:20
  Do you think there are consequences to Ruben and gads
• 26:22
  decision here. Didn't go smoothly for Reuben
• 26:26
  and Gad by making this decision, that's the question.
• 26:35
  No, is the answer. You know what, they forfeited
• 26:41
  and wanting their way, and their version of Christianity, of just
• 26:46
  kind of being right at the border of giving it all in.
• 26:49
  Oh, you know, any people are like that.
• 26:51
  Like, here's the cliff and to jump off as to say I'm going
• 26:54
  all-in and they're going like this.
• 26:59
  Taking pictures of it and I almost did it.
• 27:01
  No, no, they just the right there.
• 27:05
  You know what they forfeited. Three things.
• 27:09
  Number one, they forfeited the reality of The Nearness of the
• 27:13
  presence of God. Where was the tabernacle
• 27:16
  supposed to be in the Promised Land?
• 27:21
  And they were going to see that they actually put themselves
• 27:26
  away from the glory of God. And it cost them generationally
• 27:31
  go to Joshua. Go to Joshua 22.
• 27:35
  Anybody know where we're going here with Joshua.
• 27:38
  If you've read the book of Joshua, You know that these
• 27:42
  tribes resurfaced again? Joshua 22.
• 27:48
  It's just read the first few verses.
• 27:49
  Then, we'll scroll down the latter part so guess what?
• 27:54
  They actually went in to help their brothers.
• 27:55
  I'm going to read that in the second.
• 27:59
  And this is where they help their brothers and they finalize
• 28:01
  everything by doing what they were supposed to do at that
• 28:04
  time, Joshua summoned, the Reuben nights, and the gadites,
• 28:06
  and a half tribe of Manasseh and said to them, you have kept all
• 28:09
  that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you and of
• 28:11
  obeyed my voice and all that. I have commanded you, you have
• 28:14
  not forsaken your brother's these many days down to this
• 28:17
  day, but I've been very being careful to keep the charge of
• 28:19
  the Lord, your God, so they did it and they're now returning.
• 28:22
  Remember, they cross the Jordan River to help their brothers.
• 28:25
  Now they're about to go back. To what they wanted.
• 28:30
  And they do something that almost caused the Civil War.
• 28:33
  Does anybody know What do they do with our reading?
• 28:37
  What did they do? That almost caused an all-out
• 28:40
  civil breakout they built an altar.
• 28:45
  So scroll down. What do they do?
• 28:46
  They built an altar. This huge altar on the other
• 28:49
  side of the river and the tribes here of it.
• 28:52
  They go. Hold on.
• 28:54
  What do they think they're doing now?
• 28:56
  Why is that a problem? Because they're so strong to be
• 28:57
  one altar in the Tabernacle one place of worship then we're
• 29:01
  supposed to duplicate or replicate none of that was
• 29:04
  allowed and they did it. Rumor comes in, they bear their
• 29:07
  arms and they're ready to exterminate two-and-a-half
• 29:10
  tribes. And what happens when they hear
• 29:13
  the scroll down to verse 23, Verse 24.
• 29:19
  So they explain a down to verse 20.
• 29:21
  They go. Whoa, we did not, we're not,
• 29:24
  we're not trying to build a place to sacrifice, we
• 29:27
  understand the rules far. Be it from us, their clarifying,
• 29:30
  and then they give the reason for why they did it.
• 29:33
  No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children,
• 29:38
  might say to our children. What have you to do with the
• 29:41
  Lord, the god of Israel for the Lord has made the Jordan, a
• 29:44
  boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben in the people
• 29:48
  of God, you have no portion in the Lord.
• 29:50
  So your children might make our children cease to Worship the
• 29:53
  Lord. They realized that they were
• 29:59
  forfeiting something in parking in that side, the east side of
• 30:04
  the Jordan, what were they forfeiting the spiritual
• 30:07
  well-being of their own children?
• 30:10
  By being so far from the Tabernacle, from the place of
• 30:13
  worship, they would have to replicate something in order for
• 30:16
  the future Generations that when these other tribes see Ruben
• 30:20
  Gallego, who do you think you are?
• 30:21
  You're not part of us, this is a boundary between us and you and
• 30:24
  they go. No, but there's an altar.
• 30:26
  Here we are part of the Israelites.
• 30:27
  We are part of your brethren. Do you see what risk?
• 30:30
  They put themselves in? and the same goes today, even
• 30:34
  with parents, they don't choose to live this wholehearted life
• 30:40
  for Christ, and you know, who suffers for down the down, the
• 30:43
  road, the children. Instead of bringing them into
• 30:49
  their inheritance that have bring them into, introducing
• 30:51
  them, to the presence of God, to the people of God to Fellowship,
• 30:54
  their just neighbors. They're just on the fringes.
• 30:56
  They're just there to see from a distance.
• 30:58
  They have an idea of it but they don't have the fullness of it.
• 31:04
  because they were so concerned about their sheep, and their
• 31:06
  flock, and their well-being, and their houses, and their children
• 31:09
  in the moment and not choosing to go into the will of God, they
• 31:13
  were forfeiting the reality of the presence of God, number 2,
• 31:17
  Think about this geographically. What kind of a risk that they
• 31:21
  put themselves in by planting themselves on the other side of
• 31:24
  the Jordan River? Think about it in terms of War.
• 31:29
  Who's going to be affected first?
• 31:30
  When the enemies try to come in? These tribes, these tribes would
• 31:36
  be the first to be taken into captivity.
• 31:39
  These tribes are more susceptible, they're more
• 31:41
  vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and we can turn there.
• 31:45
  But we won't for the sake of time in Judges chapter 10 where
• 31:49
  they come in, and they inflict their pain upon these tribes
• 31:53
  before they go into the promised land.
• 31:55
  So, you know, what happens when you and I choose to live on the
• 31:58
  bow Injuries of the fullness of the will of God we open
• 32:01
  ourselves up to Greater attacks of the enemy.
• 32:04
  We open ourselves up to. A failure to see God's
• 32:09
  protection and provision. Like it could be if we go full
• 32:11
  in. Happens all the time.
• 32:15
  People wonder why? Because you're not in the
• 32:16
  promised land, my friend, you're outside your on the fringes and
• 32:20
  God wants you to cross that River.
• 32:24
  And thirdly the obvious one. They forfeited.
• 32:27
  God's best. They thought that they had their
• 32:31
  idea of Life, their idea of their plans, their idea of what
• 32:35
  this whole thing is all about. They thought that they can come
• 32:37
  up with something better than what God had promised them from
• 32:39
  long ago, and I wonder what it would have been like if they had
• 32:41
  gone in, we'll never know. We'll never know.
• 32:47
  Who knows what kind of profits could have come out of these
• 32:50
  two, who knows? unfortunately, it's only down
• 32:56
  the road, where you realize and I realize that As glamorous as
• 33:01
  it looked in the moment to give up my young years to go full out
• 33:04
  for God. Only later, will you realize
• 33:08
  what it could have been God Almighty?
• 33:11
  Protect me from such a foolish decision.
• 33:15
  Ruben and God unfortunately, made that decision.
• 33:19
  And then he goes on to, let's go back to number 32.
• 33:25
  He goes on from verse 10, down to verse 15 to describe how the
• 33:29
  first generation did not wholly. Follow the lord.
• 33:31
  Accept two people verse 12, men except Caleb.
• 33:35
  The son of jephunneh a they can, as I and Joshua, the son of nun
• 33:38
  for they have wholly, followed the Lord.
• 33:42
  I've read the numbers so many times, but this time, this verse
• 33:45
  in verse 14, 15 popped out to me in a way that it just struck my
• 33:49
  heart. Look at verse 14 and behold, you
• 33:52
  have risen in your father's place.
• 33:54
  A brood of sinful men to increase still more.
• 33:57
  The fierce anger of the Lord against Israel.
• 33:59
  Look at this receiving, this is scary stuff for a few turn.
• 34:03
  Away from following him, he will again, abandon them in the
• 34:05
  wilderness and you will destroy all this people.
• 34:09
  You don't read the story about the first generation.
• 34:12
  The second generation, we automatically almost think like
• 34:15
  the second generation is going to directly go into the promised
• 34:17
  land, no matter what. That was not the case.
• 34:20
  This verse shows that God was willing to restart the whole
• 34:24
  thing over again. If they were unfaithful But if
• 34:28
  they did not comply and Obey, and cling to the Lord, this
• 34:31
  verse shows, Moses, listen, we could have done another 40
• 34:34
  years. What are you guys thinking?
• 34:37
  That's crazy. I just wonder if they did, it
• 34:42
  would have been like how many generations until one really
• 34:44
  got. It said, let's do this.
• 34:48
  And so it's just it's just a strong reminder that God is not
• 34:52
  a respecter of persons. It's a strong reminder that I
• 34:56
  do. Although God is so faithful.
• 34:59
  He is so faithful. We need to be faithful to
• 35:02
  experience what he wants us to experience.
• 35:07
  So, what happens? Verse 16 down, they agree to
• 35:11
  fight. They said, well do it will go
• 35:14
  in, will help the brothers and then we'll come back out.
• 35:17
  And in verse 20, Moses agrees and says, okay, you do this, he
• 35:23
  reminds them. And then he says these words
• 35:26
  here in verse 21, says verse 20. So Moses said to him, if you
• 35:30
  will do this, if you'll take up arms and go before the Lord for
• 35:33
  the war and every armed, man of you will pass over the Jordan
• 35:37
  before the Lord, until he is driven out.
• 35:38
  His enemies from before, Amanda A subdued before the Lord.
• 35:41
  Then after that, you shall return in free and be free of
• 35:44
  obligation to the Lord. And to Israel, and this land
• 35:46
  shall be your possession before the Lord.
• 35:47
  Now, look at this verse. We've heard it before, but if
• 35:50
  you will not do so behold, you have sinned against the Lord and
• 35:53
  be sure your sin will find you out.
• 35:56
  Famous verse who here has never heard this verse.
• 36:02
  So 99.5% of us have heard that verse and it's even more
• 36:07
  powerful. When you understand this verse
• 36:09
  in its context, it's powerful enough.
• 36:12
  When you isolate it from its surrounding text, be sure your
• 36:15
  sin will find you out, but it's even more impactful when you
• 36:18
  understand what Moses trying to say, remember, Moses is going to
• 36:24
  die, he's not going into the Promised Land.
• 36:28
  He's not following in with them. And so as he's making this
• 36:31
  agreement with Reuben, Gad Reuben.
• 36:35
  Gad could have given false Assurance.
• 36:36
  Yeah, we'll do it. We'll go in and bear arms, wait
• 36:39
  till he dies, and we'll just park here.
• 36:40
  Forget all that bloody mess. They could have, you know what
• 36:43
  Moses trying to say. Hey, I might be off the scene,
• 36:47
  but know this be sure your sin will find you out.
• 36:51
  I don't have to be here for that to happen.
• 36:53
  It's not dependent upon spiritual leaders is not depend
• 36:55
  upon who's accountable to you, none of that that helps But in
• 36:59
  the end, God has established a law in the universe.
• 37:04
  Be sure your sin will find you out.
• 37:06
  Now what does that mean? Exactly?
• 37:07
  Because we've kind of centralized it to Define it as
• 37:12
  if you sin and secret it's going to come out one way or another,
• 37:15
  that's partly true. But that's not the core meaning
• 37:17
  because this is not a secret sin.
• 37:20
  It's not a secret sin now, that implies that implies something
• 37:24
  greater than that though, that whether its private sin or
• 37:26
  Publix in, there is a rule concerning sin being entertained
• 37:31
  that eventually whether sooner or later sin will come and it
• 37:35
  will bring the check for the payment of you participating in
• 37:38
  it. Always always, it's just a rule.
• 37:43
  And so another way to interpret this is be sure that if you will
• 37:47
  engage in sin, that sin will come And require payment for
• 37:51
  your participation. whether it's private or public, And so in a
• 37:57
  holy way, Moses as a leader, is trying to instill the fear of
• 38:00
  the Lord and these men as he's about to depart from the scene
• 38:03
  of the earth until he gathered to his people to say, Hey
• 38:05
  listen. I might not be here but God sees
• 38:10
  I might not be here, but sin has a law that it will come.
• 38:15
  Hey, remember you entertain me? Here's the payment.
• 38:18
  Always Always. I love the fear of God.
• 38:27
  It's the beginning of wisdom. I love the fear of God because
• 38:31
  it is a Fountain of Life. I love the fear of God because
• 38:35
  those who fear the lord are friends with the Lord.
• 38:39
  I want it more and more my life. I pray that you would have to be
• 38:44
  sure your sin will find you out. This is why he says, what is he
• 38:47
  saying here? Behold, you have sinned against
• 38:50
  the Lord. Not against Moses.
• 38:51
  Not against your brothers, do you have?
• 38:54
  But ultimately it's against the Lord.
• 38:56
  Remember that, Ruben remember that God, if you really are
• 38:59
  going to do this, keep your word, keep your word and that is
• 39:04
  the secret, to victory in Holiness.
• 39:07
  That when you understand that, despite Moses watching my life
• 39:11
  or Aaron Riley azer, all these guys that I'm account.
• 39:16
  If that is the main motivation for you to live, holy and to
• 39:19
  live in righteousness, you'll find a loophole around it
• 39:23
  because when Moses is not on the scene, well, that's fine.
• 39:26
  But when you understand that, the Lord nothing is hidden from
• 39:29
  him. Oh, it's awesome.
• 39:32
  I'm reminded of Thomas when the boys told him.
• 39:35
  Hey, Jesus appears, as he said, yeah, he's like listen until I
• 39:39
  see his marks and put my fingers there.
• 39:41
  Then, I'll believe it. He didn't even pray it.
• 39:43
  It's not like you said, Lord, let me put my Using your marks
• 39:47
  and I'll believe in you, he just said it in a comment, you know,
• 39:49
  heard it but wasn't there physically Jesus.
• 39:52
  He's like, all right. And he shows up and he goes, I'm
• 39:53
  here, so cool. I don't even pray about it.
• 39:57
  Yeah, because when you talk, he's there.
• 40:00
  When you sit, he's there when you're driving, he's there.
• 40:03
  The Lord was listening to Thomas, even though he wasn't
• 40:06
  directly talking to Jesus. I think Lord, let me live with
• 40:09
  that conscious awareness that you are always with me.
• 40:13
  Always with me, always watching me.
• 40:18
  So we see here, that Moses says in a very Godly way, be careful
• 40:22
  with your words. Now we come down to verse 33,
• 40:26
  Moses tells Joshua. Hey, this is what they said.
• 40:30
  He's giving them the instructions because he knows
• 40:33
  that he's not going to be on the scene.
• 40:34
  And look at this reader, slowly in verse 33, And Moses gave to
• 40:39
  them to the people of God, and to, the people of Reuben and to
• 40:43
  the half tribe of Manasseh. What's interesting about that?
• 40:48
  Where does the minister come from?
• 40:51
  Up to this point, it's only been Reuben, Gad, Reuben, Gad, Reuben
• 40:55
  and got ruined. Again, offer said in verse 33.
• 40:57
  Once the deal was made, once the contract was side, Vanessa comes
• 41:01
  on the scene and now his joy in them and many people have
• 41:03
  different explanations. But I believe this is the one of
• 41:08
  them at least you could disagree with it.
• 41:10
  That when Vanessa was watching and hearing this conversation,
• 41:13
  he eventually was persuaded and joined them.
• 41:16
  And it goes back to our first point.
• 41:18
  It goes back to our first point that you and I based on our own
• 41:21
  Pursuit after the Lord can either influence others to be
• 41:24
  stirred up to run after Christ or to just be content where you
• 41:28
  are and I exhort you Brothers and Sisters in Christ, which one
• 41:32
  are you? You don't have to be a pastor,
• 41:36
  you don't have to be a leader to have influence.
• 41:38
  Just who you are. Whether you believe it or not
• 41:41
  your love. For Christ.
• 41:43
  The Heat Of Your Passion can affect others even who are cold
• 41:49
  when they sense the warmth of your Devotion to the Lord.
• 41:53
  It's trust me when I say it. You may not see it immediately,
• 41:58
  but there is nothing more attractive than when a person is
• 42:02
  on fire, for God. It Comforts those who are on
• 42:05
  fire for God and it can fix those who are not doesn't
• 42:10
  condemn them. It convinced them.
• 42:12
  It challenges them to say, oh this person lives for Christ and
• 42:15
  they're not even in full-time Ministry.
• 42:17
  How much more can I? I love seeing people on fire for
• 42:20
  God, that don't have the excuse that they have learned.
• 42:23
  History and I have to do this so that people can see my example.
• 42:27
  I love when I see the businessman on fire for God.
• 42:29
  I love when I see the father on fire for God, I love when I see
• 42:33
  the person. Working the hospital, the
• 42:34
  student blazing for the lord. It's it's one of the most
• 42:38
  awesome sights. And it's contagious.
• 42:43
  Just like, when we read early and numbers that complaining was
• 42:46
  contagious, you had a few Rivals that were complaining and guess
• 42:49
  what everybody else is. Give me either one, reminder,
• 42:52
  either one can affect for the good of for the -.
• 42:54
  And unfortunately, because of Reuben Gad where they thought
• 42:57
  that their decisions only affected them, a reuben, and go.
• 42:59
  Hey, let's just do this for us and Vanessa joined in, This is
• 43:05
  exactly what Moses was worried about.
• 43:07
  So we got another tribe down now.
• 43:11
  You know what the crazy part is when I'm reading this.
• 43:14
  The Lord lets him do it. See if you don't want to go full
• 43:18
  in for the Lord, is not going to twist your arm to do it if you
• 43:21
  want to live on the fringes, okay?
• 43:22
  Lemon. The fringes and this is what
• 43:24
  they're basically saying. They're saying this will do will
• 43:26
  do what you call this to do. Will do the bare minimum.
• 43:30
  You want us to fight? We'll fight.
• 43:32
  But to live in there. Nah, well sir, at the bare
• 43:36
  minimum will scrape the bottom of the barrel and we'll have our
• 43:39
  part right? Well what we want.
• 43:41
  Yeah sure. If you want to you can have not
• 43:43
  going to force you. So we all have to make that same
• 43:48
  decision. I think this is what this text
• 43:49
  is teaching us and our understanding of our spiritual
• 43:52
  State and this is the thought that I want us to leave with as
• 43:55
  we go into chapter 33 very quickly, if it was God's will
• 44:00
  for every tribe to go into the promised land.
• 44:02
  Don't you think that it's God's will for every single one of us
• 44:05
  to go in fully? If it's God's will for each of
• 44:10
  them to go in, how much more us? Every single one of us, God
• 44:15
  says, come in and live here. Don't visit live in the center
• 44:20
  of my will for your life. And unfortunately, because of
• 44:26
  Ruben and God hear me very carefully because of their
• 44:29
  selfishness, because of their contentment because of their
• 44:32
  love for materialism. What could have been a different
• 44:36
  experience for the whole nation of Israel?
• 44:40
  Was not. Listen, this experience
• 44:44
  corporately is so much different when everybody's burning for
• 44:48
  God. When everybody's burning for
• 44:51
  God, when you have some better. And I and some that are, we're
• 44:54
  thankful for the ones that are. We pray for the ones that are
• 44:56
  not, but it's not the same. It's not the same.
• 45:02
  For them, it wasn't the same. Then we come to chapter 33.
• 45:06
  Are you guys doing? Okay, good.
• 45:12
  Chapter 33 is an interesting chapter.
• 45:17
  Because this decisions made and then you almost get this other
• 45:19
  sense that you okay, we got that whole kerfuffle figured out.
• 45:24
  Let's now go in and all of a sudden, there's a pause, there's
• 45:27
  a pause in The Narrative of the book of numbers and it's this
• 45:30
  interesting chapter, that's dedicated to one simple thing to
• 45:33
  recounting the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to this
• 45:37
  moment. Now, look at it, we're not going
• 45:39
  to read it, just look at the chapter and skim through it, and
• 45:42
  you'll realize something. From verse 5, down to verse 49,
• 45:47
  you know what it is, and they were from this place to this
• 45:50
  place. I'm from that place to this
• 45:51
  place. And from that place to this
• 45:52
  placement in every detail, there are 49 verses dedicated to
• 45:57
  Simply describing how they went from one post to the other, and
• 46:01
  you go. Why would the Lord by the holy
• 46:03
  spirit gives so much attention to that?
• 46:08
  let's read the first few verses and we'll find out why these are
• 46:12
  the stages of the people of Israel when they went out of the
• 46:15
  land of Egypt by their companies, under the leadership
• 46:18
  of Moses. And Aaron Moses wrote down,
• 46:20
  their starting places stage by stage by what command of the
• 46:24
  Lord. And these are the stages
• 46:26
  according to their starting places.
• 46:29
  Then it goes down to describe it.
• 46:31
  Does anybody have an idea why God would give this?
• 46:35
  Especially at this point? Isaac,
• 46:51
  I believe there's the fact that this chapters planted right
• 46:53
  here. So strategic because they're
• 46:56
  about to go into the promised land and before going into the
• 46:59
  promised land, he wants to think about the Wilderness Journey.
• 47:04
  They're about to transition into a new phase of life and before
• 47:07
  they do. So you know, what he says stop
• 47:09
  and think about where it brought you from before.
• 47:12
  And it's an awesome practical reality before you move forward.
• 47:17
  Think about my faithfulness I want you to think about every
• 47:21
  single step that I've LED you through now.
• 47:23
  Listen, This is a strategic timing, they're about to move
• 47:27
  forward into something brand-new and before he does that it's
• 47:30
  almost as those to say stop. And just think about his
• 47:33
  goodness before that because this is scary.
• 47:35
  You're going to bump into new territory.
• 47:37
  You're going to bump and see new battles.
• 47:39
  And before that just pause and reflect of how I've been with
• 47:43
  you. Not in a general sense, look at
• 47:45
  the wisdom of the Holy Spirit but step by step, by step by
• 47:49
  step. If you read this, if you take
• 47:52
  the time to read this you'll realize that there's a
• 47:54
  recounting of the moments that God has intervened.
• 47:57
  Look at verse 8 in verse 8, And they set out from before hair
• 48:02
  Roth and passed through the midst of the sea Into the
• 48:04
  Wilderness. And they went to Three Day's
• 48:05
  Journey Into the Wilderness of etham at camp tomorrow.
• 48:08
  So there's there's a reminder that God has made a way where
• 48:11
  there was no way. And you come down to verse 14,
• 48:15
  what does it say? And they set off from alloush
• 48:17
  and can't that referred them? Where there was no water for the
• 48:21
  people of drink. When there was no provision God,
• 48:23
  made provision, you come down to verse 38 and 39, what does it
• 48:26
  say and Aaron? The priest went up Mount hor at
• 48:30
  the command of the Lord and died there in the 40th year, after
• 48:33
  the people of Israel, came out of the land of Egypt.
• 48:36
  So they reminded how God comforted them.
• 48:40
  When somebody, a great significance to them died, you
• 48:44
  come down and see him verse 40, the Canaanite the king of Arad
• 48:49
  who lived in an egg up, in the land of Canaan, heard of the
• 48:51
  coming. The People Israel.
• 48:52
  They stopped and reflect how God dealt with their enemies.
• 48:55
  Do you see what God is trying to show me?
• 48:58
  That in critical moments of your life and desperate moments in
• 49:00
  your life. You remember when I came but
• 49:02
  this is the beauty part because we think of those things, but
• 49:04
  that's not all that God does. He doesn't just bring the
• 49:06
  highlights. There are many names here of
• 49:10
  places that they've been through that.
• 49:11
  We haven't even heard of in the whole Bible nowhere.
• 49:14
  These things. There are stretches of verses
• 49:17
  that say, they go from this place to this place is made me
• 49:18
  go, what happened there? But it shows to me that God
• 49:22
  doesn't just lead us in the, you know, God is Not Just in heaven.
• 49:25
  And he says, I'll figure out when there's desperate times,
• 49:27
  then I'll come in, he's with you in the mundane, he's with a
• 49:31
  step, by step, day by day, when you go in on your nine to five
• 49:34
  Monday to Friday, he's there because you remember how they
• 49:37
  were LED, right by the pillar fire night.
• 49:40
  The cloud by day each one of those stops.
• 49:42
  Every time they stop it was that cloud.
• 49:44
  His presence was always with him and with you and me.
• 49:50
  So it's not just think about the highlights of your life.
• 49:52
  All I remember when God provided that moment, I remember when
• 49:54
  God's presence was so real, that tragic season, my life.
• 49:57
  No, he was with you throughout it all.
• 49:59
  That's what he's trying to show them.
• 50:00
  Every moment I was there. Every step I was with you.
• 50:05
  So remember the faithfulness of God but not just the
• 50:07
  faithfulness of God dwelling on on God's unmerited, favor.
• 50:11
  That's what God wanted them to do.
• 50:13
  Why I wonder if you read this chapter, you'll notice something
• 50:16
  very special about God, commanded, Moses.
• 50:19
  He commanded him verse by verse you write down.
• 50:22
  What I'm telling you concerning these past few years about how
• 50:25
  I've LED my people. You'll notice something.
• 50:27
  I wonder if anybody's noticed it just look through it quickly.
• 50:29
  I'll give a couple seconds that way.
• 50:31
  My throat can take a breath too, and just think, Is going on here
• 50:35
  that God's doing strategically? It's not direct.
• 50:38
  Its indirect. Or obvious, at least.
• 50:58
  You know what, you notice. And I encourage you, if you
• 51:00
  haven't read this chapter, take sometime this weekend or
• 51:04
  something, to read chapter 33, as he's recounting.
• 51:08
  There's no. Mention of the failures.
• 51:14
  Subtle at most, but no blatant obvious mention of how they've
• 51:20
  messed up. And when God wanted them to
• 51:23
  recount it, when God commanded Moses to do that he intended to
• 51:27
  leave out those details. He did that on purpose, not so
• 51:35
  that they would not learn from their past failures for the
• 51:38
  future, but to reflect that in spite of their failures, God is
• 51:42
  merciful and gracious. And I see a hint of God's mercy.
• 51:46
  In this chapter, though, it's a list of place to put it.
• 51:49
  You know, what it is, your sins? I remember no more.
• 51:53
  I've cast them into the heart of the sea.
• 51:55
  I don't reflect on. I don't remember them.
• 51:59
  You know, how many people can't move forward because of the
• 52:01
  things that happen in the past. You know many people can't
• 52:04
  believe God for a greater things because of how they've messed up
• 52:06
  in the past. And when God chooses at this
• 52:09
  transitional moment of life. He says, I want you to recount
• 52:12
  something and I want you to count on my grace mercy, not on
• 52:16
  your failures. It's a powerful illustration of
• 52:20
  God's immutable, mercy and Grace.
• 52:27
  And then he comes down to verse 50.
• 52:28
  As we close in this chapter, we're not going further than
• 52:30
  this. And the Lord spoke to Moses in
• 52:35
  the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho saying speak to the
• 52:38
  people of Israel and say to them.
• 52:40
  When you pass over the Jordan, into the land of Canaan then you
• 52:43
  shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from
• 52:45
  before you destroy. All their figured stones and
• 52:47
  destroy all their mental images in the plate, demolish, all
• 52:49
  their high places we're here. And I believe this portion is so
• 52:57
  awesome for us at this point of Our Lives.
• 53:02
  As we're on the border of a new year. if you're convinced that
• 53:07
  the end, this Bible study, And all, what you've heard, then
• 53:10
  just go out one ear and out the other.
• 53:13
  If you're convinced, if you had a place in your life, Were you
• 53:16
  like man? I've been living on the fringes.
• 53:21
  He might be a truly safe person, but you've been living on the
• 53:23
  fringes. Listen, let me testify to this
• 53:27
  in a moment. I can this is real to me because
• 53:30
  for 19 years of my life, I had my own version of Christianity.
• 53:34
  And it was live close enough to the Border but still do my own
• 53:39
  thing. Have an altar so I can remember
• 53:42
  yeah I grew up Christian and yeah I'll take my kids to church
• 53:45
  when I'm 30 and I have my own family, I want to do my own
• 53:49
  thing. That was my idea of
• 53:52
  Christianity. You know what, for the longest
• 53:54
  time it was the best plan. I thought I had hear me.
• 53:58
  I'm not lying to you. I'm not exaggerating.
• 54:00
  I literally thought those thoughts in college that I'm not
• 54:04
  going to go so far where I forget about God, but I'm going
• 54:06
  to go and do my own thing and still have some kind of symbol
• 54:10
  in some kind of way to remember that he is there and he forgave
• 54:13
  me. Oh yeah, and I thought this plan
• 54:15
  is brilliant. Let me testify to you.
• 54:24
  It's so much better when you cross over.
• 54:29
  So much better. When you hear and you see what
• 54:36
  this book says to be true. And it took the Holy Spirit to
• 54:41
  rebuke me hard like Moses, that would rebuke them.
• 54:45
  And I had a choice to either. Convince myself, I'll do the
• 54:48
  bare minimum and just stay here to say, you know what, I'm going
• 54:50
  to go over and I can tell you this the past eight years.
• 54:53
  And this is a special moment. I might try to talk about
• 54:55
  myself. I'm just trying to testify and
• 54:56
  be real night of this Bible study.
• 55:00
  I know Peter and Tim are here and they had their own
• 55:02
  experience in New Year's 2011. Correct me if I'm wrong but he
• 55:09
  and Tim, they had their own moment without that make that
• 55:12
  choice too. it was New Year's 2011 for me this time of the
• 55:17
  year where it's just like, okay, it's either all or nothing and I
• 55:22
  can tell you in the past 8 years, Has it been that long?
• 55:27
  Yeah, seven. Eight years.
• 55:32
  It's so much better in the Promised Land.
• 55:36
  If you're holding on to your own version, if you're holding on to
• 55:40
  your own idea, if you know, you're on the fringes, you know,
• 55:42
  if your heart's not fully surrendered, you're missing out.
• 55:45
  No matter how much land you have it, no matter how much structure
• 55:48
  you have, no matter how many ideas you have it pales in
• 55:51
  comparison, To the land flowing with milk and honey.
• 55:54
  Trust, God on it. Trust the Lord on it.
• 56:00
  And if you want to, if you wanted to and brothers and
• 56:02
  sisters, if you're here, you already made that decision and
• 56:04
  you want to go into this new year with that same mindset.
• 56:07
  This is what we have to expect. There's going to be some
• 56:08
  battles. 51 says that there's going to be battles, you're
• 56:13
  going to fight some Idols, you're going to fight some
• 56:16
  Temptations. You can experience pushback from
• 56:19
  different things, but it's going to be worth it.
• 56:24
  And this is the warning and verse 55.
• 56:27
  But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from
• 56:30
  before you, then those of them who you let remain shall be as
• 56:33
  barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides and they shall
• 56:36
  trouble you in the land where you dwell and I will do to you
• 56:39
  as I thought I do to them. What is he saying there?
• 56:42
  It's a scary truth because initially they could have gone
• 56:45
  and saying we're right. There's to do it cross over the
• 56:49
  river to be in the middle of the promised land.
• 56:50
  I'm in God's will. Yes.
• 56:52
  And that can be the initial excitement after a Bible study
• 56:55
  like this, after a message after initial response, and then when
• 56:59
  you go in, you realize, it's tougher than you thought.
• 57:01
  And you want to give up and you start to make neighbors with the
• 57:04
  things that God called you to kill.
• 57:07
  And so, here's my strong exhortation that if you've
• 57:10
  decided to go into this new year to fully, give yourself.
• 57:12
  If you feel encouraged and like this Bible study to not just a
• 57:16
  Content but to believe Got four more, don't give up.
• 57:21
  Don't give up. Don't make neighbors.
• 57:23
  Don't make friends with the things that God's called you to
• 57:25
  destroy. So don't let up even if you
• 57:29
  didn't, initially made that cry out to the Lord.
• 57:32
  Because I tell you something, I've seen many people made that
• 57:34
  initial decision, but then, they go in, and they end up letting
• 57:39
  loose and they're miserable just like God warned them.
• 57:42
  You have thorns on your side's Barb's and that's not
• 57:43
  comfortable. That's painful, it's painful.
• 57:47
  So if you're making that initial don't give up Going strong.
• 57:53
  And it's a new testament old testament version of the New
• 57:56
  Testament. Verse, does, anybody know what
• 57:58
  the last verse of the first book of the book of First, John is
• 58:04
  That awesome Epistle of love that tells us God is love.
• 58:08
  You know what the last verse is who knows Little children.
• 58:14
  Keep yourself from Idols. Once a keep yourself from Idols.
• 58:20
  So what God is saying here, As you go in, keep yourself from
• 58:25
  Idols. Keep your eyes focused on me,
• 58:27
  believe me. When I say that, what I have for
• 58:30
  you is better than what you could whip up on your own.
• 58:34
  That's what I believe at the Lord and lighted.
• 58:36
  This Bible study has to say to us that as we come up to this
• 58:39
  new year, we have a choice to make and that's the call for
• 58:42
  this Bible study tonight. Will you choose to be like Ruben
• 58:46
  and Gad? Or you choose to go in across.
• 58:50
  Even if the fight I could tell you, it's much more comfortable
• 58:53
  to stay with Ruben and then Reuben, Gad area.
• 58:56
  But there are greater consequences.
• 58:58
  I rather go in and fight those battles to know that I have the
• 59:01
  presence of God. You know that I have is
• 59:04
  protection and blessing on my life to know that I have is
• 59:06
  intimacy than to be void of the battle but to forfeit all of
• 59:10
  that. The choice is all of ours.
• 59:15
  The choice is all of ours. Pray with me, please.
• 59:20
  As we ask the Lord for this new year, for God, to bless it, to
• 59:24
  stir our hearts into that direction.
• 59:30
  Father, we praise you for the way that you've helped us end
• 59:33
  this book at the end of this year, Lord we magnify you for
• 59:37
  your wisdom and your Providence in this Bible study, thank you
• 59:41
  for your word for us to reflect on.
• 59:46
  And Lord like Moses was commanded.
• 59:48
  We somehow choose to do the same thing and to record your
• 59:52
  goodness. And we think about the past.
• 59:57
  Thank you for 2018. Thank you that you don't rub our
• 1:00:02
  failures in our faces. Lord.
• 1:00:04
  Thank you that you just remind us of how good you are.
• 1:00:07
  And Lord, if you've been good to us up to this point, you will be
• 1:00:10
  get to us in the year to come. and Lord, we choose to say yes,
• 1:00:14
  the cross And yes to remain, and yes, to continue to fight, and
• 1:00:19
  not to give up. Lord, we pray by the spirit.
• 1:00:23
  That you would keep this house is a house of encouragement.
• 1:00:26
  Lord, that we would be able to know how to speak into each.
• 1:00:28
  Other's lives. Lord, that when people are being
• 1:00:30
  beaten and bruised by life, they can come here and find bomb and
• 1:00:34
  love. We ask father that in this new
• 1:00:36
  year we would truly see greater things than we ever expected.
• 1:00:42
  And Lord, we choose tonight to say, thank you for this family.
• 1:00:47
  Thank you for every person that loves you.
• 1:00:50
  Thank you for every person that has not given up.
• 1:00:52
  And for those who have Lord, strengthen them and breathe life
• 1:00:55
  into them. For those who have maybe gone
• 1:00:57
  astray Lord, call them home, call them home.
• 1:01:01
  Lord, Lord May Our Lives. Not be content, maybe not Park
• 1:01:07
  here but believe that there's so much that we have yet to
• 1:01:12
  experience. And God.
• 1:01:15
  Right now we just come on and see before you, we don't try to
• 1:01:19
  pretend We said, Lord ignite my heart again.
• 1:01:24
  Oh God, I can easily get so cold.
• 1:01:26
  They can easily get so distracted by things.
• 1:01:30
  I can see things and be so drawn to things.
• 1:01:32
  I feel to realize that you not only want to provide for me, you
• 1:01:36
  want to give me more More than what I can build for myself.
• 1:01:41
  Lord, help us not be like these Men Who Built for themselves and
• 1:01:44
  forfeited way. You wanted to build for them.
• 1:01:47
  We say yes to your will. We say yes to your will Lord as
• 1:01:53
  this church has been together for these past few years?
• 1:01:58
  We say together We give 2019 to you, Lord for your namesake, use
• 1:02:05
  us, and protect us guide us and sanctify us.
• 1:02:09
  Lord, you are worthy. If there's anybody in here,
• 1:02:12
  father that has lost the joy of the Lord.
• 1:02:14
  Anybody if anybody in here is feeling like giving up, anybody
• 1:02:19
  feels like they don't want to just give it all.
• 1:02:21
  They just want to kind of cruise control.
• 1:02:25
  Oh, Lord, touch our hearts. So now even now Lord, we choose
• 1:02:31
  to sing to you because you have been faithful.
• 1:02:40
  In the, we choose to thank you, not just for the past but for
• 1:02:43
  what you will do in the days to come.
• 1:02:45
  Thank you God. Shepherd of shepherds lover of
• 1:02:50
  our souls. Shepherd of shepherds lover of
• 1:02:50
  our souls.